Oh My God!
by pinchess07
Summary: It was supposed to be an easy job-how hard can granting a mortal's wish be? But of course, he had to pick the high school girl. The one obsessed with mysteries, but who didn't believe in gods. And let's not forget her wish: for him to stay with her forever.
1. Chapter 1

God, first class, third category, unlimited license.

Written above, in shimmering green letters, was his name: Loki.

The god smirked at Thor who stood beside him, holding a similar yet very different license that stated: Thor, and under that: god, second class, second category, limited license. Thor just shrugged. He didn't mind; he was just happy that he was issued a license.

Opposite them, sitting resplendently in an ornate chair, was Odin. He glared at the duo's reactions. Really, why did he expect anything else from these two?

His son Thor was far too confident and too lazy to properly use his skills, preferably on something other than fighting and being a hero of Asgard. So, Odin took it upon himself to issue his son a job that would teach the kid humility and responsibility. Odin wasn't going to be the king of Asgard forever, and Thor was immediately next in line. The thunder god still had a lot to learn.

On the other hand, just thinking about Loki, his beloved half-brother, caused Odin headaches the size of Asgard.

In terms of power, both Thor and Loki were first class, however, Thor usually applies his powers in the simplest way imaginable: raw, or simply through Mjollnir. Loki, in comparison, is very, very creative, and so, it's Loki who gets a 'first class' on his card.

Additionally, first class gods and goddess _can't _lie.

Removing the trickster's ability to lie felt _divine._ He can almost see Loki's reaction when the trickster realizes that fact.

It won't be pretty. For Loki, that is.

Odin assigned 'second category' for Thor since it meant field work. It was about time that Thor understood the meaning of hard work, in his opinion. Loki was assigned 'third category' because truthfully, Odin didn't know what job to give to his brother. This way, Loki is officially part of the system, and yet, had no real weight over the other gods because he wasn't assigned to anything specific. His job would depend on Odin's whim, or as the need arises.

Thor's limited license was due to the fact that Thor always acted first and thought about things later.

Loki's unlimited license was due to the fact that giving him a limited one gave Odin nightmares. Loki would treat a limited license as a challenge, and would do his very best to rise to it; this translates to the rise of exceptionally chaotic days in Asgard. By giving Loki an unlimited one, Odin was letting a sleeping dragon lie, therefore extending peace for an indefinite amount of time.

It was better than the prophesized alternative, Ragnarok.

A last resort.

Odin's scowl deepened. He never truly believed that prophecy. Loki neither loved nor hated Asgard; Odin could honestly say that only he and Thor mattered to Loki in the entire world of the gods, but Loki didn't hate Asgard either. In fact, Loki didn't care much about the place. Odin couldn't see Loki _starting _a war against every other god or goddess in Asgard.

Generally, women adored him and men were always jealous of his very being. All of them laughed and got irritated over Loki's pranks.

All of them were quick to judge Loki: for his face, for his powers, for his position.

_Evil, _they whisper loudly, not even waiting for Loki to turn his back.

But for all the things they accused Loki of, for all the pain they caused him by separating him from his family and children, Loki never seriously retaliated.

He simply endured with gritted teeth and a very charming smile.

Ragnarok was a joke. If anything, Loki would be its first victim, not its instigator.

Odin glanced at his brother, his mind finally wandering back to the present. Loki was mussing Thor's brown hair while hanging off the thunder god's shoulder.

"Can't you both behave, in my office, for ten minutes?" he snapped.

Thor pushed Loki off him, looking chastened and standing at attention.

"Well if you wanted our attention, you should have tried to be more interesting. Besides, you were glaring at your desk like it somehow offended Baldur, and we thought it best not to interrupt," Loki stated dryly.

"Quiet, Loki! Just this once!" Odin snarled. Loki raised his hands in a placating gesture, but he smiled like the cat that ate the canary.

Odin sighed. Of course, Loki always made a point to irritate him as often as possible. He should be used to it by now.

"Thor, I'm assigning you to Tokyo, Japan. You'll live as Narugami, a mortal. A high school boy. Someone so poor, he has to work part-time everyday—"

"Did you smack Baldur with Mjollnir again?" Loki asked thorn in a loud whisper. Thor, whose face had already lost all color, quickly shook his head vigorously in denial.

"Loki! I assigned you to help Verdandi for the time being," Odin managed to say through gritted teeth.

"What!" Loki yelped. "But her job is to grant wishes to mortals—"

Realizing that he was losing his composure, Loki snapped his mouth shut. His mind worked double time to find a silver lining, to turn the situation to his favor. It didn't take long since his mind was used to the exercise.

Mortals…

Mortals were in Midgard, weren't they?

He'd have to go there to grant their wishes.

Loki relaxed and flashed Odin his brightest smile yet. If Odin hadn't been waiting for it, he might have burned from the sheer intensity, but as he had his shields up to his strongest levels, he didn't even blink. Thor was already immune, seeing as he and Loki spent most of the time by each other's side as best friends do.

"Thank you, All-Father! I'll hop to it, then!" Loki chirped and all but skipped out of the office. _He had a new playground to explore._

The father and son shared bewildered yet resigned glances.

"You'll look after him as much as you can," Odin stated matter-of-factly.

Thor grimaced. "Father, you do know that looking after Loki is a full time occupation, right?"

Odin sighed, rubbing his temples.

"How about this then…"

-x-

"Yo, Verdandi!"

Verdandi jumped in her seat, fumbling the telephone she was holding, because Loki—Asgard's heartthrob—had just spoken to her ear! It was only thanks to Loki's quick reflexes that neither of them got hurt from her sudden move.

She blushed further when Loki's hand brushed hers as they both reached for the phone.

_That was totally not an accident!_ Her mind screamed. Her body didn't care as her heart beat sped up.

"H-hello, Loki. What brings you here?" Verdandi said. Inwardly, she cursed herself for stuttering. She wasn't the Norn with a crush on Loki—that was Skuld!

_But…Skuld's not here. Loki visited me, not Skuld…_

Verdandi took a deep breath to fortify herself, but it was for naught as Loki leaned over her shoulder to peer at the numerous folders on her desk. She felt her heart beat faster than ever.

"Odin assigned me to help you…so…I'm helping you…let's see…"

_He's being cruel! How can he tease me like this? …dear Odin, I can feel his body warmth…_

"Thor was assigned to Tokyo, Japan, you know? So I figured I'd go there too, to lend him a hand. Or annoy him. Whichever comes first. Ah! Here we go! Tokyo, Japan. Mayura Daidouji. Hmm, she's a high school girl too, nice! This should be fun!"

_His smile should be illegal!_

"Can I borrow you phone for a minute, Verdandi?" Loki asked. The goddess between his arms could only nod feebly in response. Loki chuckled, his deep voice giving Verdandi goosebumps all over. He mouthed "You're the best!" while dialing Mayura Daidouji's number.

Verdandi fainted.

-x-

"Hello, this is the goddess technical help line. Is this Mayura Daidouji?"

The girl in question blinked before looking at the receiver in her hand confusedly. _Goddess technical help line? _But the caller was a guy…

"Yes…?" she answered warily.

"Perfect! I'll be right there!" the caller chirped in a voice that promised…something.

"Where?" Mayura asked. She felt a flare of warmth behind her, uncomprehending.

"Here," a voice answered right behind her, making her stiffen up. A hand slowly reached over her shoulder for the phone in her hands. Another hand reached over her other shoulder to disengage the phone from her suddenly tight grip.

"We don't need that anymore," he said huskily to her ear.

Mayura whirled around, blushing pink like her hair. Her long tresses hit him full in the face in the process, making him splutter indignantly from the sting.

"Oops! Sorry, you surprised…me…"

Her voice trailed away as her brain processed just who was in front of her.

He was taller than her by a couple of inches. His hair was blonde and artfully messy. He had a handsome face, and his eyes were a startling green. He wore a formal suit—a red coat, a white button-up shirt underneath, a blue ribbon around his neck, and black slacks.

A bishounen!

_But why was a bishounen in her home? How did he get there?_

_Fushigi mystery!_

Her eyes sparkled as she thought it out.

"Are you an alien?"

Loki, who had just finished spluttering, stared at her like she had just sprouted five extra pairs of arms and legs.

"No! No, I'm not. I'm Loki, at your service," Loki said with a bow and a flourish, presenting his business card to her.

To his bewilderment, she erupted into loud peals of laughter after reading it.

"Sorry, but I don't believe in gods," Mayura said, finally able to talk after a full minute of laughing.

Loki gaped, not that he would ever admit it to anyone. The girl believed in aliens but not in gods?

He shook himself out of his stupor and snatched his card back. In the same motion, took a step forward and deliberately violated her personal space while staring at her intently.

"Let me prove it to you then, Mayura. I'm here to grant your wish. Any wish, but just one," he declared seriously.

"Bring mama back," she answered just as seriously, without even pausing to think about it. Loki felt his insides go cold. Mayura's voice was wistful when she spoke next. "That's what I wished for many years ago, Loki-kun. The gods didn't grant my wish then, and I know you can't grant it either."

Her odd reddish eyes told Loki _volumes._

Well…maybe he could bargain with Hel this one time? The girl in front of him looked really lonely and he could sympathize with her pain.

After all, he knew all about the pain of being separated from his family.

Angrboda, his beautiful wife, had long been kept away from him. He didn't know if she was even alive at this point.

Hel, his beloved eldest daughter, was literally worlds away, being the ruler of Niflheim, the world of the dead.

Fenrir, his great Fenrir, was being kept chained—somewhere. Somewhere Loki couldn't find him or go to him. Loki didn't know where, after all.

And Jormungand, his shy, sweet Jormungand, was in the bottom of an ocean somewhere here in Midgard.

(Loki was here now, finally and with permission, and Loki swore to rescue his son if it took him forever!)

Only Odin would be watching him here; it'll be easy to escape his brother's watch. He had centuries of practice. He could even slip to Niflheim and visit Hel for a bit—and look for Mayura-mama—

Mayura giggled at Loki's expression, shaking Loki out of his plan-hatching.

"You're really considering it, aren't you, Loki-kun? You're really nice."

Loki blinked at the unusual reaction of the girl in front of him. He was totally unprepared for what she said next.

"I wish someone like Loki-kun would stay by my side forever," said Mayura earnestly.

Loki's remaining composure was shredded to a million pieces as his panicked mind processed Mayura's wish. At the same time, his magic swirled green around him, illuminating the room in a bright light as Yggdrasil, Asgard's super computer, processed it in mere seconds and approved.

_Wait…approved?_

The bright green light condensed, wrapping him in a cocoon of power. His vision swam. For the first time in a long while, his magic worked without his consent, forging the contract between him and Mayura.

Saying he was disoriented was a major understatement. His magic strengths lay in fire and chaos, sure, but he had learned to use magic from Odin.

It was ironic that Loki used order to govern the most unruly elements of all: fire and chaos. But that's just how he worked, and suddenly finding his magic out of his control shook him to the core.

The light dissipated.

Loki's mind had stuttered to a halt. He rubbed his temple to restart his brain processes. He must have thought wrong. It was easy to misunderstand the way the contract bound him to Mayura and vice versa—NO! NO! NOOOOOO!

He gave Mayura a weak smile, holding a shaky hand up to stall her questions and picking up the phone.

He dialed Odin's personal hotline—his brother picked up after one ring.

"You can't be serious!" Loki shouted in old Norse, his eyes red from anger. Luckily, that was the extent of his lack of control over his powers and his magic didn't blow anything up or set Mayura's house on fire.

The answer from the other line was curt.

"But—"

This time the answer was longer, and Loki cut Odin off mid-sentence.

"They're just jealous! I've told you a hundred times—that time! And that time with Svadilfari! I'm not its _mother_! How can you even consider that idea? I'm straight! I had a wife, and three children! And why the _Hel_ would I do it with a horse—having sex with a goddess—any goddess—is infinitely better than—"

_Any other time,_ Odin thought from his end of the line, _I would have laughed at Loki's incredibly suspicious and detailed denial._

But Loki's voice was desperate and he was pleading like he never had before. It broke Odin's heart, but when he replied, his voice had no trace of his unsettled emotions.

Just calm.

And controlled.

He would do it for Loki, whose entire world was falling apart, just as he was being tied to another by a mortal's wish.

"I know. I believe you. I'll always, always believe you. Calm down. It's not your fault. I know that. But for now, stay on Midgard. Let them cool off. Let them think they've won. Let them forget for a while. Out of sight, out of mind, Loki. A mortal's forever isn't that long for us…so for now, just live with it," said Odin.

_Just live with it._ Just like before, when Asgard attacked Loki by taking away his family, this was what Odin told his brother. He's repeating it now, hoping that Loki would still trust him…

He heard Loki take a deep breath, and mentally applauded Loki's control.

Mayura could see that Loki's eyes had returned to green as he listened to whoever he had called on the phone. She was alarmed at first, and then horrified, because even if she couldn't understand Loki's words, she could guess—and it was a good guess—that Loki was begging.

She felt really guilty. Loki probably had family from where he came from, and she'd be separating him from them. But from the resigned look on Loki's face, she knew that her wish couldn't be taken back or erased.

Loki felt his magic finally settle as Odin said goodbye. He swallowed slowly, taking the time to rearrange his thoughts and composure. His eyes were still sad though, so when he smiled at Mayura, it didn't quite seem right.

"Again, I'm Loki, god of fire and chaos, first class, third category, unlimited license. Mayura Daidouji, please take care of me."

This time, loki said it with a simple, shallow bow, his former demeanor—mask—not yet in place.

"Ah…yes?" was Mayura's dumbfounded reply. Wasn't it supposed to be the other way around?

Uncomfortable silence followed, only to be broken by a shout.

"Mayura! What was that green light?"

"Papa!" Mayura gasped.

"Mayura-papa?" Loki echoed.

When Misao Daidouji entered the room, he knew exactly what to say to the man standing in front of his daughter.

"You! Get away from my daughter! Get out of my house!"

_This is my take of MLR in Ah My Goddess style. Hope you like, and if you do, please leave a review. If you don't like, still leave a review. And since I wrote this at nearly midnight, there might be a couple of typos here and there. Please tell me where to find them and I'll fix them as soon as I can._

_XD_


	2. Chapter 2

Loki's reaction was as automatic as breathing. He gave Mayura a slow, suggestive once-over, stepped closer to her, and enveloped her in a possessive hug.

His warmth wreaked havoc on Mayura's senses so that she felt light-headed and confused. In fact, if Loki let go of her, she felt pretty sure that her knees won't support her.

She should be scared, because she'd never experienced something like this before. She'd never had a boyfriend, half because of her Papa's over-protectiveness, and half because of her self-appointed mission to look for anything and everything supernatural. If this feeling of safety in the intimate hug that Loki-kun has her in was what made all the other girls her age look for boyfriends instead of mysteries, she might reconsider.

…She was already reconsidering.

Boyfriends might not be so bad.

"Sorry, Mayura-Papa. Can't do that. She's too beautiful for me to stay away," Loki announced with a smirk, his composure back in place. Mayura shivered at the unspoken promises Loki's voice made.

Mayura-Papa looked like he was about to pop a vein. Loki reveled in the feeling of someone else being unsettled. It was blessedly normal—he was the god who plays with the fate of others, not the other way around!

"Unhand my daughter this instant!" the furious father cried.

"No," Loki said simply, burrowing his nose on top of Mayura's head. She smelled like strawberries, much to his amusement. Mayura, bypassing pink and now blushing scarlet, broke away from his hold. She looked absolutely adorable.

"Stop it, Loki-kun! Papa, I can explain…"

And so she did. Loki spent the time contemplating about his attraction to the mortal girl. He wasn't under magical compulsion, and yet, he couldn't find it in himself to hate the girl for wishing him to stay. All his anger earlier was directed at his brother for approving the wish, but—

Ah.

Mayura had wished for him to stay.

She had unwittingly stroked his ego. While others pushed him away with all their might, she had _wished_ for _him_ to stay. In that light, there was no need for magical compulsion for him to like her. She was one of the few people who genuinely liked him, whom he could count with one hand.

He was taken out of his reverie by Mayura-Papa's voice.

"Do you take me for an idiot, Mayura?" Misao thundered at his daughter, presumably after she finished explaining the situation. Mayura flinched, making Loki frown.

"Don't shout at her, Mayura-Papa," Loki said sharply. "Mayura was telling the truth."

"Why should I believe you?" Misao said with a harsh glare. "And stop calling her Mayura—I can't imagine that you've gotten that close to her in a short amount of time."

"I'm a god, first class. I can't lie," said god explained through gritted teeth. He'd only just remembered that particular fact. It was a huge blow to him. Him! The god of lies! Luckily he never told Mayura that. It was a well-played trick by Odin. It wasn't every day that his brother got one up on him. Too bad Odin forgot a very important fact: the truth, when used properly, could hurt more than lies. The truth, in Loki's hands, was a weapon, sharp and deadly.

He smirked inwardly as his mind came through for him again.

If he couldn't lie in Midgard, he would tell the truth instead. He'd try his hand at being the god of truth for the time being. His first challenge was right in front of him.

"I can't say even a single white lie," he said, amping up his smile to blinding brightness. "Let me show you something only a god can do…"

He snapped his fingers as an idea came to him. Mayura-Papa wanted proof? Then he'll give him proof. Only a high level god could summon a high level demon from the depths of Niflheim. It would be a nice test to see Mayura-Papa's skills as a priest too.

Loki concentrated on his right hand, where a red beam of light quickly materialized into a staff with a crescent-shaped end—Laevateinn. He used the tip to first draw a circle, then a pentagram inside of it. The inscription glowed pink; for lesser gods unused to high level magic, this would have taken longer, would have taken more complicated spell chanting, not to mention a ridiculously large inscription, just to direct the magic properly.

He spoke in Old Norse.

"Demonic beast Audram! Come forth!"

There was a puff of smoke. When it dissipated, all that was left was…nothing?

At least to Mayura, it was.

To Loki and Mayura-Papa however, there, floating as if gravity never existed, was a white…thing…with pink-tipped ears and tail, two small points for hands and non-existent legs, and a very happy face. "Punyaan~!" It said.

Loki's eye twitched, the only thing that showed his confusion at the failed spell. He must have botched it up. It was very unlikely though. He hadn't botched up a spell for years. The alternative explanation was that something intervened. Something that was powerful enough to prevent a high level demon summoning to change it to a low-level harmless spirit instead.

That idea was unnerving. Something in Midgard was powerful enough for that?

Loki scratched his head and adapted a sheepish smile. "That didn't come out right, but there you go, Mayura-Papa! Proof of my power. A shikigami, a spirit bound to do my bidding. I think I'll call it Ecchan."

"Punyaan!" the newly-christened Ecchan agreed, landing on Loki's head. Mayura-Papa was gaping like a fish.

"Whaaaaaat? Where is it, Loki-kun?" Mayura cried, searching desperately for the shikigami.

"You can't see it?" asked Loki, baffled. He cocked his head at Mayura. "Even though Mayura-Papa can?"

"Get that thing out of my house! This is a shrine! How can you just summon spirits here, you…you! I'll exorcise it! I'm not joking, I really will!" Mayura-Papa finally found his voice. Ecchan whined into Loki's hair, scared of the threatening aura of the priest.

Loki frowned as he felt Mayura's father's seriousness. So the Daidoujis lived in a shrine, and one with more than excellent wards at that. He was impressed but didn't let it show on his face. More importantly, if Mayura-Papa was the head priest here, then he had considerable power, maybe even enough to really follow up on his threat of exorcising Ecchan.

That was unacceptable. Loki patted Ecchan's head consolingly, reassuring the newly-born spirit. He started gathering power, concentrating it on his body.

"Ecchan isn't a malicious spirit, Mayura-Papa. And…he's not the reason you're protesting against the contract between Mayura and me, is he? I told you, Mayura wished for me to stay here forever. You can't get rid of me."

As he expected, Mayura-Papa vigorously objected. "No! No! No way!"

Loki sighed. He had gathered enough power now. He directed his chaos magic carefully (as he always had and always will, with the exception of the contract incident earlier) as he mentally mapped out the form he wanted to take.

Daidouji Misao was forced to take a step back as he felt very powerful energy rush to the self-proclaimed-and-maybe-just-maybe-true god. Mayura, he saw from a side-glance, had no idea what was happening. She probably couldn't even feel the pressure of the massive amount of energy.

POOF!

A cloud of smoke erupted from where Loki stood. The transformation was complete. Both Daidoujis had to blink when the smoke dissipated, just to make sure that they were really seeing…

"…Loki-ko?" Mayura said, astonished. He was a boy of maybe ten years. He had reddish brown hair, and his face was only barely alike his adult form because of his green eyes. His smile was happy and carefree and…_child-like._ Even his clothes had changed, becoming a black ensemble that consisted of a black coat, a white shirt underneath it, a white ribbon, and black shorts.

Loki-ko, instead of Loki-kun, was exactly right, because it meant _Child-Loki_ in every sense of the word.

Mayura's eyes sparkled. Loki-ko was cuteness personified!

And he spoke in a childish voice too, not high-pitched but just boyish, a very different voice from his adult one.

"I'll stay like this when we're here at home then, Mayura-Papa. You have my word," said Loki, his voice sickly sweet but hard as steel. Mayura missed the hidden threat, but Misao did not. He realized immediately that he was lucky that the god in front of him even conceded this much. He nodded slowly, reluctantly, acknowledging the god's (therefore very powerful and should not be angered) decision.

When Loki was ushered to one of the guest rooms by an overcome-by-his-cuteness Mayura, he made no fuss, his mind already on to other things, things to accomplish in Midgard.

He might have spelled the futon to be slightly comfier and softer.

Alright, he spelled it _a lot_ comfier and softer than it actually was, but other than that, he just did what Odin always told him to do.

Endure.

Live.

-x-

"Good morning, Mayura-Papa!" Loki greeted Misao cheerfully next morning at breakfast. Misao wanted to bang his head on the wall. He had hoped that everything was a nightmare, but…

And that blasted shikigami was eating an omelet in mid-air.

Mayura was watching the omelet disappear in clear fascination.

"Mayura, you're going to be late!" Misao snapped. He seriously needed coffee before his head started to ache again. He'd spent last night tossing and turning in his bed, worried for his daughter, only to find her gazing at something she couldn't see the next morning.

Mayura jumped and smiled sheepishly. She was already dressed for school so all she needed to do was to get her school bag so she could leave.

Loki stood to go with her.

"Loki-kun?" she asked, noticing his movement. She had stopped calling him Loki-ko when he gave her a particularly deep scowl earlier.

"I'll go with you."

"Don't be silly, Loki-kun. You're too young for high school. You're ten!" Mayura said.

Loki cocked his head, thinking it over. He gave Mayura-Papa a quick glance before deciding.

"I can't be physically apart from you by a maximum of 500 meters," he stated.

"I'm not letting you stalk my daughter, you hear me?" Mayura-Papa shouted.

POOF!

This time there was no buildup of power, as if Loki didn't need to think about changing into _this_ form, which he really didn't. This was one of the most useful forms he ever used (for spying…or hiding from whoever he previously pranked).

He was a white hamster with brown spots and green eyes.

"Kyaa! How cute! How did you do that? Fushigi mystery!" Mayura squealed happily, picking Hamster-Loki up.

-x-

Mayura Daidouji, Loki mused, was a study in pink, because first and foremost, she had hair in a lovely shade of pink. It was the first in his ever-growing list of mysteries about her. He'd only seen that shade of pink in one other person: his daughter, Hel.

Next were her red eyes. Red wasn't a normal color for Midgardians. At all. What did it mean, then? How did it happen? She definitely didn't inherit the color from Mayura-Papa, whose eyes were black.

She lived in a Shinto shrine. Her father had considerable skill as a priest. As far as Loki knew, skill like that ran in families, but Mayura couldn't even see Ecchan. The shrine showed signs of being in the Daidouji family care for generations. Meaning, spiritual awareness among family members was the rule and not the exception. Why had it skipped Mayura?

Or perhaps it hadn't. Perhaps… considering Mayura's confession about wishing for her Mama to come back… perhaps she herself had locked it away when she stopped believing in gods. But then…she was clearly fascinated with all things mysterious and supernatural, what with how hard she tried to see Ecchan despite her lack of skill. Why chase after ghosts if she didn't believe in divine beings?

What did she think Loki was, if not a god? He had already demonstrated his powers, and even Mayura-Papa had acknowledged him, even if the man didn't like him. What about Mayura? She even dared to call him _Loki-ko_. He had scowled at her for her blatant disrespect, but she just went back to Loki-kun, when it should have been _Loki-sama._

Not only that. She even _ran_ to school! With him in her bag as a hamster! His dizziness and irritation was paramount as the world around him rocked this way and that.

Perhaps that was also the reason why his mind kept focusing on useless things, like how it was raining and how nice it was that Mayura had an umbrella. A fire god under the rain was something that should never happen.

Mayura slowed to a walk as they approached the local high school. From Loki's point of view, high school was aesthetically pleasing, especially because all the pretty ladies wore their uniforms short. He let his dizzy mind wander in that direction gladly.

Mayura's skirt ended up mid-thigh. He could see now that it was normal here.

_High school uniforms were highly appreciated. 3_

And when Mayura showed him off to her friends, all of whom squealed "Cute!" at the sight of him, he appreciated high school more.

Mayura made them promise to keep quiet about the hamster to avoid trouble from the teachers. Apparently, her cover story was that she had obtained Loki without her father's permission (which, to Loki's amusement, was exactly what happened) and so she couldn't leave him at home, lest her father accidentally discover him and throw him out. Her friends were sympathetic and agreed to cover up for her.

-x-

Everything was unbelievably boring before lunch break. Loki had no intention to listen to Mayura's school lectures. He spent the time sleeping, recovering from his dizzy spell earlier. He hated moving vehicles with a passion. He could transform into a horse, had tried it once, but he hadn't tried it since and he definitely hadn't birthed Svadilfari, Odin's six-legged horse, from that form. He shivered at the accusation the other Asgardians made.

When lunch break came, Mayura chatted with her friends, seemingly forgetting him. _Forgetting to feed him!_

"Mayura, did you know? They say there's a ghost in the old clock tower by the outskirts of the city!"

That was the catalyst—a simple piece of gossip. Loki had a feeling that he wouldn't be able to eat until they went home for the day, because Mayura immediately forgot her bento and hurriedly gathered her things. She had fallen for it hook, line and sinker, and lunch was not important in the face of a mystery! She ran out of school under her umbrella, with her bag and Hamster-Loki inside it, tucked under one arm.

Mayura never gave a thought about the classes she would be skipping, or the distance of the school from the clock tower her friend mentioned. Loki, dizzier than ever from her increased jostling movements, was incapacitated and out of commission for the rest of the afternoon.

He didn't recover until sundown, lying as a hamster on Mayura's bed—it smelled like strawberries, he had no doubt it was hers—and Mayura wasn't there.

She left a note on her table which said: Found a talking doll, but it disappeared. Went back to look for it. Rest well, Loki-kun.

He finally registered the tugging sensation he was feeling and cursed. He morphed back to his kid self (he was too panicky to concentrate properly for his adult form). He scrambled after Mayura, following the pull of the magical contract between them. She hadn't left for long, hadn't gotten that far yet. He could still feel her presence.

He was still dizzy from riding inside her bag. He could barely walk straight, and damn it, it was still raining!

By the time he had arrived at the clock tower, he was panting hard and very out of breath. He had already cursed his kid form's short legs a hundred times over. He was not athletic by any means; at least in his adult form he might have caught up to her, but he couldn't do that at present.

He could see Mayura climbing up to tower while he tried to catch his breath. There was no way he could climb stairs as he was.

An old lady approached him, inquiring about his business with the tower.

_I'm here to rescue a damsel with pink hair,_ he thought, still unable to speak.

When he did speak, what tumbled out of his mouth were questions about the doll. He couldn't rescue Mayura without first knowing what he's rescuing her from.

From the old woman's lips came out a story about a fire and the girl that owned the doll. The other details of the story slid into his mind too but he was already back to worrying about Mayura to do anything other than thank the old lady for telling him the story and for letting him borrowing the doll's owner's bracelet.

He dashed up the stairs of the tower.

He arrived just in time to deflect floating knives away from Mayura using Laevateinn.

The doll was furious, of course, shouting about betrayal and abandonment and such—reminding Loki of what he brought with him. He slipped the bracelet onto Mayura's wrist, and the ordeal was over shortly after a ghostly reunion between the girl and her doll.

Mayura had fainted after being possessed by the doll's owner. As he carried her home, in his adult form of course, he wondered.

Wondered why Mayura would put herself in danger, looking for spirits (which rarely were benign, unless they were shikigami like Ecchan). She had no powers to protect herself.

So why did she look for them? Why was she so eager to meet them?

He doubted he'd get his questions answered soon. He braved through Mayura-Papa's lecture as he stepped through the front door. Ecchan flopped onto his head, comforting him with its warmth. He explained what happened patiently, grudgingly—while the man put a blanket around his daughter and only his daughter—since he couldn't lie.

Not about something so serious. Not without losing his godhood.

Mayura-Papa blew up at him again, calling him useless, the first in a long list of adjectives.

He endured.

It was all he could do. He hoped he wouldn't get sick the next day, or better yet, he hoped that Mayura wouldn't find anything mysterious or dangerous the next day.

Was that really asking for too much?

_I'm done with this chapter! Since this arc was from the anime, the next arc I'll be using plot from the manga. And yes, Yamino and Narugami will be here soon. As soon as I obtain a new pen to write my first drafts with. XD_

_Please tell me any typos you find and I'll correct them as soon as possible. Please leave a review if you liked it! If you didn't, then still leave a review, if only to tell me. Thanks!_


End file.
